Innamorata
by Kali1
Summary: Sequel to Remembering the Past. Bruce and Selina have a talk about Jason's death.


_Innamorata _

_by Kali_

_**Author's forward:** Okay, someone asked for a sequel to "Remembering the Past". So I came up with this. My first voray into super hero comics was with Doug Moench's Pre-Crisis Batman. I was a huge fan of the Catwoman/Batman pairing, and was sorely disappointed in the retconning of that romance. As always, feedback is appreciated. _

"Bruce, it's me. Let me in. Please. I know you're in there," Selina pleaded through the oak door of Bruce Wayne's master bedroom. 

He opened the door looking a bit bedraggled and bewildered. "Anything wrong?" he asked. Genuine concern mirrored in his eyes. 

"Honey, I.... I wanted to talk to you....." 

"Selina..." He started to shut the door back on her. "I told you, later." 

"When will that be? I came to see you because...I ...I love you," she commented softly then drew him into a kiss. For a moment he eagerly returns it, but then wistfully withdraws. Selina still hadn't completely recovered from her ordeal, and he did not want to impede that in any way. 

"Selina, now's not a good time..." He's silenced by another kiss. Deeper and more probing than the last. 

"Given our... no scratch that, your line of work, there may never be a 'good time'." 

"Selina," he started in protest. 

"No Bruce," she said, pushing him back into his bedroom, and shutting the door behind them. "We both want this." With that she untied her robe and let it fall into a puddle at her feet. She slinked forward to kiss him again. "I know it. You know it. So why fight it?" 

"Why indeed? I just hope we don't live to regret this." 

"What's to regret?" 

************************************************************************** 

Selina woke up in an otherwise empty bed. The covers pulled up to her shoulders. Moving them back, she realized she was wearing her previously discarded robe. A breakfast tray sat neatly next to her. Over easy eggs, sausage, and corned beef hash. With a cup of raspberry tea to wash it down with. Alfred remembered. 

She hadn't meant for this to happen. She had intended to talk to him, to get him to open up to her. But instead it had devolved into the physical. She prayed that there was more between them than just the heat. On her part, she believed there was. But his? 

Pulling off the covers she headed out in search of him As she left the room, she saw Alfred dusting some paintings in the hallway. If he had any feelings what so ever about her renewed relationship with Bruce, he didn't show it. "Where is he?" 

"Master Bruce, is in the cave, Miss Selina. Toiling with a case." 

"Thanks," Selina commented, as she determinedly headed off to the Grandfather clock. One way or another they were going to have it out today. 

After she had left his view. "No, thank you, Miss Kyle. Perhaps, now, the master can have the kind of life he deserves." 

As Selina descended into the cave, a sense of awe came over her. Despite the fact that she had been in the cave a few times before, it still intimidated her. And probably always would. 

"Bruce, we need to talk." He was hunched over his microscope looking at evidence. At first she thought he didn't hear her, but then. 

"Later, ...... please." 

"Great, just great! Is this how it will always be between us? With you willing to share the vigilante shtick and your bed, but never your heart?" 

"It's not like that." 

"Isn't it?" 

"After *he* brainwashed you, I wanted to kill him. To beat him to a pulp for all the crimes he had committed. But Jason stopped me. He *stopped* me! And look what that cost him!" 

"There was no way you could have known." 

"I knew he would kill again. I knew it! And I have let him live!" 

"I fired Dick as Robin, because the Joker shot him. I saw him lying in his bed. And all I could see, was him as a little boy. My boy. I couldn't bear the thought of him dying on me, like my parents had. It *seemed* like a good idea at the time. Dick's rage and contempt of me were a fair price to pay for his life. But, I had trained him too well. He went off on his own and became Nightwing. My 'sacrifice' had been for naught. And worse, we would barely ever talk to each other for months on end. At best, it was civil. At worst, it was a slugfest. And the hard truth of the matter was, it was my fault. My doing. My damned pride kept me from apologizing. And then I let my loneliness get the better of me. We had separated, Vicki was using my face as dart board, I felt..... alone." 

"What about Alfred and Dr. Thompkins?" 

"Alfred was angry about my treatment of Dick. Oh, he kept it under wraps. But I could tell. Believe me, I could tell. And Leslie, nothing would make her happier than to see the Batman permanently retired. As such, spending time with her, is difficult at best. Knowing that someone you... care about disapproves of your actions....." 

"Hurts. I know that feeling all to well." 

"This is different. You were on the opposite side of the law." 

"Apples and oranges. Being a vigilante isn't exactly legal." 

"It's the violence she opposes of. The only thing.... act of Batman that she has ever completely approved of, was my firing Dick." 

"She probably read you the riot act about taking on a kid sidekick. Huh?" 

He nodded grimly. "It was the first time she had ever raised her voice to me. Told me 'How dare you endanger a helpless child!' 'How dare I' indeed. If I had listened to her, how differently things might have turned out." 

"Dick made his choice. He obviously loves what he does. Otherwise he wouldn't be team leader of the Titans and working the beat of his own city. You didn't force him to do either of those things. He's a natural born hero. If there is such a thing." 

"Maybe. But Jason. I wanted to correct the mistakes I had made with Dick. I wanted to be a better father to him. Provide him with a loving home." 

"Not so easy though, is it? What is that saying? 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.'" 

"When Nocturna and I battled over custody, I could see that defiant streak in him." 

"He loved her. And so did you." 

"No, I thought I did, but I didn't. I loved you." 

"Bruce, please. Must we really rehash this? I could see it in your eyes when you looked at her. I could see it while we were watching her hot air balloon drift in that goddamned scarlet storm." 

"And when you fell off the cliff, I felt as if my soul had been torn out of me. It wasn't Nocturna I was thinking of, she wasn't even an afterthought. All that mattered to me was you." 

Selina smiled. Perhaps he did love her after all. 

"If I matter that much to you, friend, let me help you." 

"You're welcome back into 'the club', Selina. You always were. The others might not agree, but *I* want you there with us." 

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it," she stated. She walked over to the enshrined Robin costume. The one dedicated in memory to the late Jason Todd. "Dick told me about how you behaved after Jason's death. How you shut everyone out. Pushed them away. I want to make it clear buster, that I will not accept that from you. We've been through too much together. If you love me, you'll share yourself with me. It's that simple. Letting me know how you're feeling, and not giving me that damned icy bravado your so infamous for." 

"You want me to be honest? Very well, I'll tell you something that I have only told one other person. I wanted to kill Joker for what he did." 

"You said that already." 

"No, this was different. This time there was no one to remind me of the 'good' I had accomplished. No one to stop me. After I found Jason's body. And held his cold, lifeless body in my arms. All I could think about was shoving a gun down that laughing bastard's mouth, and pulling the trigger. A gun! A weapon I have always been loathe to touch, much less use!" 

"It's perfectly understandable. I doubt anyone would accuse you of hypocrisy, given the situation. I would've probably felt the same way if it had been you he had killed." 

"Can you appreciate the irony, Selina? Can you? I fired one Robin, because he was wounded by the Joker. And yet out of some sentimental idiocy I allowed another boy to don the cape and mask. And that boy I lost permanently to the Joker's madness. No second chances." He touches the glass case gingerly. "He never had a chance at life. My fault, all my fault." 

Selina puts her arms around him, embracing him. "No, it wasn't. The only person that blames you for Jason's death, is yourself. Don't, please. He wouldn't have wanted you to punish yourself like this! Don't shut us out. Don't retreat into yourself. It's not you against the world, bucko! You have people who care about you, despite your efforts to the contrary." 

"It's hard being open with them. With Dick and Tim. Even with Alfred at times. They all have this image of me as cool, collected, always in control." 

"News flash, honey. They already know you have 'feet of clay.' You've demonstrated that quite often apparently while I was off in la la land. All I want.... All *we* want is for you to stop bottling everything up inside." 

"I don't know if I can. But for you, I'll try." 

Disclaimer: Bat-family characters belong to DC Comics. This fan fiction is meant as pure, harmless fun, and as such, no profit is being made from it. 


End file.
